How to Get Laid Off in the Cannabis Industry

Me picking up my stuff from the office, saying goodbye to “Lupé” after my 2nd layoff, 4/1/20

I’ll never forget experiencing the first layoff in my career. It was my first job in the cannabis industry, and it came out of nowhere for literally everyone involved, our clients, the public, everyone.

I was working at The Denver Post as the General Manager of The Cannabist, a journalistic publication focused on true accountability and coverage of the burgeoning cannabis industry. For the 9 months that I was there, The Cannabist was at its peak and pinnacle as a publication. We just surpassed High Times and Marijuana.com (Weedmaps’s very successful blog) in traffic, the two largest traffic generators in our industry.

We put our name and standard on a global map after a very successful set of events, The Cannabist Awards at MJ Biz and our 420 Week Launch Party in 2017 & 2018, respectively. We also achieved financials “in the black” for the first time in the publication’s history. Profitability within reach, brand awareness soaring, traffic higher than everyone else, no one saw us going anywhere anytime soon.

It was on a day that I was putting together a pitch deck for an international tv show to explore landrace strains across the globe that I found myself called into my regular 1:1 with my boss and was told my position and all of the revenue generating positions for The Cannabist were being “dissolved” - poof, just like that, your role vanishes out of thin air. I didn’t even know that was a thing that could happen.

If you were just recently laid off, you’ll recognize the torrent of emotions that come next: confusion, anger, fear, self-doubt, much more anger. It all hits you in waves or at once. You can try to argue or fight it in the moment, but you won’t win. The choice was made, your only move is to accept it. In a very small way, it’s like losing a loved one, like the grieving process. Scream at the universe or god all you want, the deed is done.

A number of things might be happening to you right now. Let me address a few of them quickly so you can hopefully move on productively and avoid the crash that can happen emotionally and mentally:

1. Blaming Yourself
   Look, unless you got fired for cause, this is not worth the energy. Keep in mind, I still do this, even after my 4th layoff (and perhaps, because it has happened so much! lol). Easier to dole out the advice than to follow it myself. However, these decisions are often made disconnected from personnel, are purely a financial equation someone in leadership makes, and your name gets crossed off a spreadsheet. Let go of the baggage of blame. This likely had nothing to do with you, specifically.
   

2. Feeling Betrayed
   This one is trickier. Betrayal can take so many forms. For me, I’ve always brought a sense of ownership into every role I took on. It took a few layoffs for me to stop this. If you’re feeling betrayed, like you’ve been loyal and passionate about the company you just got laid off from and can’t believe they’d do this to you, I encourage you to reevaluate your relationship to your job. A job is merely a trade, labor for wages.
   
   Especially if you don’t have a 12-month contract for employment, your employer has the freedom to axe you without a second’s hesitation; and they will, if it benefits them. Be as loyal to them as they are to you: trade your professional hours for wages, and let that be the end of it. Don’t provide any more than what you’re paid to provide. All that loyalty, energy and passion you spend in your personal life is extra value those employers can squeeze out of you, and they’ll sometimes even provide you “equity” to do this; it’s a ploy, and it’s meant to exploit. Don’t get taken advantage of again.
   

3. Fear
   It’s easy for me to tell you not to be afraid. It’s not easy to do. Fear is usually rooted in “the unknown.” You might not know what you’re going to do next, how you’re going to pay bills, feed your family, or if you’re even valuable enough to get another job. The best thing you can do is start acting and filling in the unknowns. Trust in yourself. Meditate every single day, especially during this time in your life. Some people can even do some consulting work while they find the next thing in their career. This is a modality I return to every time.

The first time is just always going to be scary, distressful, and full of concern, doubt and fear. You have to be proactive to prevent your mind from going into these places if you want to quickly bounce out of this. But you got this. Seriously, you do. It doesn’t matter if you truly believe that, you have to ensure you stop your brain from triggering emotions that do not serve you; and fear absolutely does nothing to serve you.

Reach out to your network, and don’t be ashamed to ask for help. There are folks out there that would be so happy to help you, if they knew you needed it. There’s no shame in the game. In fact, it is the game entirely; “it’s all about who you know” as they say. You don’t get what you don’t ask for. So get to asking.

Lastly, keep your head up. Our industry is scary and turbulent, and you can easily fall prey to hopelessness. You might see the stocks, or hear industry analysts talking about capital drying up. Ignore that nonsense. Unless we find ourselves in a once-in-a-lifetime global hiring freeze like in Covid, there are always companies hiring. Get your name out there and I assure you, you’ll start finding more peace.